Pierce has also been charged with an additional count of assault and attempted deliberate homicide in a separate case.

Chief Prosecutor Kirsten Pabst said the trials were severed so that each will be tried separately.

“Right now, we are interviewing witnesses along with defense counsel,” said Pabst. “We bring them in and sit them down in the conference room and they answer questions from the defense attorneys and investigators. As you can imagine, there are a couple hundred witnesses on our list, so we’re getting that taken care of. We’re also in the process of litigating some pre-trial motions, and one of those hearings is set for this Friday. The defense has filed a motion to sever the counts against Tiffanie Pierce, wanting two separate trials instead of one, and we’re preparing to respond to that.”

Pabst said Pierce is scheduled to be tried in September, while Standingrock’s trial is set for November.